Hello Yugioh Community! As some of you may know I have been messing around with the Mermail/Atlantean deck ever since its release in Abyss Rising. While the main deck seems to have a fairly standard frame to it, I believe there are a few tech cards that many duelists may be looking over. Today I would like to share a few of these “Under-The-Radar “cards that I have come across while I have been wielding this deck. In the time that I have been dueling competitively, the past four or five years, it has always been a goal of mine to search every crevice of the card pool in an attempt to find something that may have been overlooked and could possibly give me the edge in an upcoming tournament. It may take a hundred bad ideas to find that hidden gem, but when it finally happens results usually follow.
Question of the Article: Is there a card you feel not seeing play right now, but you think has a chance to make your deck better?
Don’t forget to answer the Question of the Article in the comments down below!
-Should I Include These Under-The-Radar cards in my Main Deck?-
The answer to this question is mainly no. Most of the tech I am going to go over in my article today are cards that are suited depending on the situation and match-up so they will probably be better fit in the side deck. In each individual discussion I have for each card I will go into detail on if there is any reason to try and include them in the main though. Keep in mind; there are a lot of cards that need to be ran in the Mermail/Atlantean main deck, so room for tech choices is fairly limited.
Eisbahn
Continous Trap Card
When a monster with an Attribute other than WATER is Normal or Special Summoned (including face-down Summons), and you control a face-up WATER monster: That Summoned monster is changed to Defense Position.
I want to start things off with a card I haven’t heard anyone really talk about, but I feel has some potential. Eisbahn was a rare released in Photon Shockwave quite some time before any of the good water cards were out causing havoc so I deduce that it has been overlooked and forgotten. It is essentially a Stumbling for all non-water monsters as long as you control a water monster, which is a majority of the time. This card will prevent your opponent from summoning problem monsters like Thunder King Rai-Oh and Jurrac Guaiba. In most scenarios, it at least will buy you a turn to deal with whatever your opponent is trying to throw out you. I think this card could be useful in the side deck to help against a couple of tough match-ups, Chaos Dragons and Dino-Rabbit. Keep in mind the monster does not have to remain in defense position, so make sure you have a plan to deal with your opponent’s monster on the following turn.
Lightning Vortex
Spell Card
Discard 1 card. Destroy all Face-up Monsters your Opponent Controls.
This card may not seem Under-the-Radar, but it is old and has not seen play in quite awhile. Vortex’s time to return to its former glory may be in the Water deck. As many Water duelist know, this deck generates many pluses and you can be put in situations with a lot of cards, in some cases a lot of monsters, but not really have anything going for you in the game. Lightning Vortex is one way you can utilize all of the Genex Controllers that may be in your hand and demolish an opponent’s onslaught all at once. Most Wind-Up duelist have learned by now when they go into Shock Master against the Water deck they have decent odds if they call monster effects since there is only one Dark Hole, but many effects that could result in a comeback. Lightning Vortex is a great way to punish the Wind-Up player who probably spent most of their recourses to make a big field with a protective Shock Master. This card really isn’t bad against any decks this format and I would say it warrants consideration for the main deck. At the very least it isn’t a bad card to have in the side deck mainly for Wind-Ups, Mirror Match, Chaos Dragons, and basically any deck you feel likes to spend resources to fill their field up with monsters. Be careful to watch out for Starlight Road!
Imperial Iron Wall
Continuous Trap Card
Cards Cannot Be Banished.
One of the simplest cards in the game may prove to be the most helpful. It is a well known fact that cards like Dimensional Fissure and Macro Cosmos can really hinder the Water deck and this card shuts them both down. The main decks in the meta currently you see siding these cards in are Dino-Rabbit and Wind-Ups and the best part is that Imperial Iron Wall shuts down multiple cards in both of those decks. Wind-Up Rabbit, Rescue Rabbit, Dimensional Prison, Bottomless Trap Hole, etc. it is pretty useful to have a one card answer to almost a quarter of the deck you are up against. This card is also no slouch against Chaos Dragons, while you need to play it in a way to avoid an early and quick Lyla pop. This card is very effective and I feel it deserves a chance to earn a spot in the side deck.
Airorca
Effect Monster/Level 3/ Wind/ Sea Serpent/ 1400/ 300
Once per turn: You can banish 1 Fish, Sea Serpent, or Aqua-Type monster from your hand to target 1 face-up card your opponent controls; destroy that target, then banish this card until your next Standby Phase.
Before the Mermails were released in Abyss Rising, this was one of the first side deck cards that I was made aware of. It is a monster that can be summoned by Deep Dea Diva and can deal with any problem card that this deck has. I think there may be a chance now for it to earn a spot in the main deck. With more and more players main decking cards like Thunder King Rai-Oh and Macro Cosmos, a lone tech copy of Airorca may not be the worst idea. It is really not bad in any situation, with the expection of having no other monsters in hand, and his Wind-Up Rabbit like effect means he will be coming back to either deal with another card or opens you up for an easy rank 3. Overall there is not much downside to this card and while he was once only considered a side deck option, his time to shine may be upon us.
Conclusion: Anytime you want to have success at a game that lately seems to be more of the same over and over again, you need to go above the call of simply play testing and get your hand dirty. Pick up a box of commons and rares and spend some time just reading cards you aren’t quite sure what they might do. Taking the time to go above what most duelist may do to prepare their decks can give you the slight edge you need to have success in the next tournament that you enter! Today, I shared a few of the cards that I have been playing around with in my own Water deck and gave some basic reasoning to why I feel they should at least be considered options for anyone with a Mermail/Atlantean deck . Even if you aren’t a Water duelist, hopefully you could take away the main concept I wanted to get across that just because something isn’t popular doesn’t mean it can’t be useful!
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, concerns, or simply want to answer the question of the article, feel free to do so in the comments down below!
-Billy Brake
-YCS Toronto and Columbus Champion
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